You don't need
thoughts. It's not as though the topic hasn't been studied to death. Just glancing over at my library, I see three of the five books I have on just this topic alone: "The Art and Science of Lightning Protection" by Martin Uman; "Lightning Physics and Lightning Protection" by Bazelyan & Raizer; and this one on quantitative physical theory for plamas, "Principles of Plasma Discharges and Materials Processing" by Lieberman & Lichtenberg. The first two are filled with experimental data and experience. The last is pure plasma physics theory. But just get a good book.